A Blog About Intellectual Property Litigation and the District of Delaware


Courts
All courts

D. Del. Announces Selection of New Magistrate Judge Laura D. Hatcher to Replace Chief Magistrate Judge Thynge

Andrew E. Russell, Dec. 7, 2022
DED Judges

District Court Seal

The District Court yesterday announced the selection of Laura D. Hatcher as the new magistrate judge to replace the irreplaceable Chief Magistrate Judge Thynge, who has announced plans to retire on March 31, 2023.

As the Court sets forth, Ms. Hatcher has worked for two firms here in Delaware, as well as the U.S. Attorney's Office:

Ms. Hatcher is currently the Chief of the Civil Division of the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Delaware. In her five years as an Assistant United States Attorney, Ms. Hatcher has handled a wide variety of civil and criminal matters. Before joining the U.S. Attorney's Office, Ms. Hatcher worked as a litigation associate with DLA Piper (2012-2017) and Richards, Layton & …
View

A B-Plot in the Mavexar Saga

Nathan R. Hoeschen, Dec. 6, 2022
Mavexar Mandamus

Hasnain Sikora, Unsplash

The Federal Circuit made its second foray into the Mavexar (I think) saga on Friday when it ruled on a new petition for Mandamus is In re: Swirlate IP LLC.

The plaintiff in Swirlate filed a petition for mandamus on November 30, seeking to stop a scheduled December 6 hearing.

I should note at the outset the while the Swirlate case seems to mimic the M.O. of a Mavexar entity—a Texas LLC with a single managing partner with no apparent connection to the patent—the Court has not yet held a hearing on the issue, so we can't say conclusively that the matter is related. It was, however, scheduled for a hearing in December that that sole …

View

Another Order to Produce Litigation Funding Discovery—This Time Against What Looks Like a Practicing Entity

Andrew E. Russell, Dec. 5, 2022
Litigation Funding Discovery Dispute

Money
Pepi Stojanovski, Unsplash

Last week, Chief Magistrate Judge Thynge issued an opinion addressing a motion by accused infringers to compel the patentee to produce litigation funding discovery and opinion letters relating to the patents-in-suit.

While it involves litigation funding discovery, this case is a bit different from the recent Mavexar hearings. Here, the patentee is MHL Custom, Inc. who, it appears, is a practicing company and not an NPE. Beyond that, the case is still active (unlike some of the Mavexar cases) and the discovery is sought by the defendant, not the Court itself. In other words, this is a more typical ruling.

But the opinion is still notable. The Court granted the accused infringers' motion for three categories …

View

Six Amicus Briefs Filed in Support of Chief Judge Connolly's Litigation Funding Orders

Andrew E. Russell, Dec. 1, 2022
Mavexar Litigation Funding

Artist's depiction of amicus attorneys standing guard outside of the District of Delaware
Artist's depiction of amicus attorneys standing guard outside of the District of Delaware AI-Generated, displayed with permission

There has been so much activity in the Mavexar cases this week that it's hard to keep up. Over the last two days, various parties have requested leave to file a total of six amicus briefs in response to the Mavexar petition for a writ of mandamus in the Nimitz case, and the respondent filed their brief as well.

All of the briefs were great, and many repeat some of the same arguments. I thought it might be worthwhile to take a spin through them and mention a few notable or unique points in each.

(If you need an overview, check out our …

View

Chief Judge Connolly Comes Out Swinging, Issues Searing 78-Page Opinion Rebutting Petition for Writ of Mandamus

Andrew E. Russell, Nov. 30, 2022
Mavexar Litigation Funding

Charging Bull
AI-Generated, displayed with permission

Well this clears things up.

Background of the Mandamus Petition

We've talked about how Chief Judge Connolly has held multiple hearings in the Mavexar actions, examining the owners of several patent assertion LLCs and discovering that the real party in interest seems to be Mavexar LLC. The witnesses testified that Mavexar recruits people to serve as plaintiffs, but then runs the litigation themselves—including seemingly all substantive decisions, even settlement.

After the most recent hearings, Chief Judge Connolly issued a series of orders requiring production to the Court of various communications between the LLCs, their attorneys, and Mavexar. One of the entities involved, Nimitz, immediately filed a petition for a writ of mandamus to stop the Court's …

View

The Real-World Effect of the Mavexar Hearings: Accused Infringer Files Suit Against Mavexar and IP Edge, Alleging an "Aggressive Campaign to Harass and Threaten" [Updated]

Andrew E. Russell, Nov. 30, 2022
Mavexar Litigation Funding

Space Fighters
AI-Generated, displayed with permission

I saw this case come in just now, and thought it was worth a post. Today, Power Integrations, Inc. brought an action against Waverly Licensing LLC, Mavexar LLC, Array IP LLC, and IP Edge LLC, alleging that those companies had engaged in a harassment campaign against Power Integrations over alleged patent infringement, and seeking a declaratory judgment of non-infringement.

According to the complaint, Waverly Licensing, LLC—by itself—sued Power Integrations late last month in the Western District of Texas. That case is still pending, according to the docket, and is assigned to Judge Robert Pitman (not Judge Albright). The answer deadline is set for January.

Now, Power Integrations brought a DJ action here in Delaware against …

View

Party Scores Hole in One, Invalidates Asserted Claims of Patent at SJ

Andrew E. Russell, Nov. 23, 2022
MSJ Summary Judgment

The Court has said in the past that "winning summary judgment in a patent case is like hitting a hole in one." Well, yesterday DePuy Synthes scored a hole in one, invalidating all asserted claims of one patent on SJ in RSB Spine, LLC v. DePuy Synthes Sales, Inc., C.A. No. 19-1515-RGA (D. Del. Nov. 22, 2022).

How Did They Do It?

Basically, they won it at claim construction, but couldn't end the case until summary judgment.

The patent at issue, U.S. Patent No. 6,984,234, covers a "base plate" that a surgeon can screw into two bones in a person's spinal cord to stabilize them.

The base plate screws into the bones (blue, below), and a …

View

Now a Defendant in a Mavexar Case—Not a Plaintiff—Has Moved for a Protective Order

Andrew E. Russell, Nov. 21, 2022
Litigation Funding Standing Orders

"Lamplight" isn't the worst name for a patent assertion entity. Riley Bourdon, Unsplash

Today brought yet another twist in the ongoing Mavexar saga. In one of the cases, a defendant—not the plaintiff—moved unopposed for a protective order to prevent the Mavexar-related LLC from producing the documents that the defendant sent to it (and that, presumably, the Mavexar-related LLC may have sent to Mavexar itself).

Specifically, the defendant moved for a protective order to "prevent the public filing of three categories of information that ABB expects to be provided by Plaintiff and its counsel in response to the Court’s Memorandum Order," including (1) documents related to sales and royalty rates, (2) communications related to the terms of the settlement agreement, and (3) the agreement itself.

As to those three categories, the defendant asked the Court to issue a protective order that protects the info from disclosure in both filings and in future hearings or ...

View

In Response to Mandamus Petition, Federal Circuit Stays Mavexar Order

Andrew E. Russell, Nov. 18, 2022
Litigation Funding Standing Orders

Stop
Markus Spiske, Unsplash

These Mavexar-related cases are developing so fast, we can hardly keep up!

We've talked about how Chief Judge Connolly issued an order directing certain of the Mavexar-related entities to produce documents, including materials related to their communications with Mavexar. We also discussed the Nimitz entities' petition for a writ of mandamus to stop enforcement of the order and to stop the Court's "judicial inquisition."

Yesterday, the Federal Circuit responded and stayed the order:

IT IS ORDERED THAT:
Defendants CNET Media, Inc., Bloomberg L.P.; BuzzFeed, Inc.; and Imagine Learning, Inc. are directed to respond to the petition no later than November 30, 2022, whether defendants fully defend, partly defend, or decline to defend the challenged order. …
View
Newer
Older

Archive